‘Wehadtolook
atmoredetail
thisyearthan
weeverhave’
have got a lot
As The Great British Bake Off returns, Paul
Hollywood and Prue Leith tell Woman’s Weekly
what we can expect from the new series
O
ver the past
decade, he
has gained a
reputation as
one of the toughest judges
on TV, but Paul Hollywood
isn’t really a pantomime
villain, says his co-star, Prue
Leith, who replaced Mary
Berry three years ago on
The Great British Bake Off.
In fact, the 79-year-old
thinks he is actually a
great big softie.
Likening Paul, 53, to one
of the world’s most famous
treat cakes, a doughnut,
Prue laughs as she exclaims,
‘He has this hardman stuff
of, “It’s a competition, it’s
about the baking,” but I don’t
think that is so.
Paul is like a
doughnut – he
is hard on the
outside and
squishy in
the middle!’
As Paul and
Prue chat together ahead of
the new series of Bake Off,
they are in very jovial spirits.
Smiling, joking and taking
the mickey out of each other
regularly, it’s clear they have
developeda greatfriendship
bothonandoffscreen.
AndwhilePruecredits
Paulforhelpinghersomuchat the start in making her feel
at ease on set, he says she
has brought a lot of fun to
the proceedings.
So what is the funniest
question she gets asked
about Paul? Smiling, Prue
replies that whenever she
travels the country at book
festivals to promote her
other big passion – romantic
novels – it is not whether
Paul’s bark is bigger than his
bite that she gets asked, but
about his good looks.
‘“Are Paul Hollywood’s eyes
really blue?”’ she chuckles.
‘“Or are they contact lenses?”
The next one is, “Is the suntan
fake?” I spend half the time
defending Paul’s perfectly
real eyes
and suntan!’
Both roaring
with laughter,
Paul and Prue
say they
still love
everything
there is to love about Bake Off.
And it would seem
celebrities can’t get enough
of the iconic tent and
awe-inspiring showstoppers
either. ‘Jennifer Garner was
doinga recipeandfollowing
mine,’saysPaul.‘Shemessed
upandsaid,“I hopehe’snot
watching.”KeiraKnightleyisa big fan of the
show too.’
Rest assured,
however, Paul has
not gone totally
gooey-eyed over this
year’s crop of bakers
as he insists he
never tires of telling
them what’s what.
‘You can rule with
a pat on the back
or you can rule
with a whip. I don’t
necessarily rule
with a whip,’ he
jokes, before adding,
‘But I was hard this
year. When they are
younger, they have to
start somewhere. But
they are all very keen
to learn. They pick up
little nuggets‘The bakers
BETTER!’
Paul with Bake
Off fan Keira
Knightley10 womansweekly.com